"For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear, The cloud will vanish..." The Little Black Boy is a short poem by William Blake that was originally published in 1789 within Songs on Innocence (1789), a work that was later combined with Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). This was due to Blake writing Songs of Innocence as a contrary to the Songs of Experience. As context to this poem, it was published during a time when slavery was still legal and the campaign for the abolition of slavery was still young. William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.